The Theosophical Forum – December 1945

THE GREATEST OF ALL — J. W. A. Croiset van Uchelen

Love is the cement of the Universe. — G. de Purucker

Only by erasing the barriers between man and himself, between men and men, can Universal Brotherhood become realized. Co-operation must replace self-seeking individualism. Peace must replace war. We cannot fight for peace, any more than co-operation can be imposed by force.

Man is separated from man, nation from nation, by self-assertion, the assertion of self, and the will to dominate. If we agree that the cause of human separateness is selfishness and greed, then what is the Power by which the Ideal may be realized? What is the power which even amidst the bestialities of war, stands untainted in the blood-drenched battlefields? What is the power that makes for heroism and sacrifice, the sacrifice of self? It is love alone which leads to self-forgetfulness. Love, surpassing the confines of national and racial boundaries, encompasses ALL. Love, set free from the human heart — where too often it is encaged, like a songless bird — that it may soar, taking man aloft in its flight to the Sun. Love, not as a human sentiment, but as a winged Reality.

We are seekers and know we know not; and can agree to disagree in harmony. Each approach has its beauty to instill, its heresies to conquer. In the final analysis there are as many pathways as there are men; but upon close examination most of our differences are but eddies on the surface of the great calm deep.

Conscious unity in endless diversity is the brotherhood of men defined. There can be no peace on earth, until the harmony of the spheres finds its echo in the hearts of men; and to this end no amount of scientific planning will avail, no amount of religious discourse will aid, no amount of philosophic speculation will suffice.

Then do we not need science? We do, provided the use to which the knowledge thus gained is put, is guided by the dictates of the heart, Then do we not need religion? We do, provided we can surmount the man-made barriers of theology. Then do we not need philosophy? We do, and need the sharpened intellect, provided we realize that no amount of philosophy can give soul-experience, which alone is valid to the individual.

The only power to overcome is the one of which one among the Great has said: "and the greatest of these is LOVE."